(1) Trees: Trees are the main symbol in the novel. What does Melinda learn from/through her interaction with trees throughout the novel? (2) Melinda's escapes: Look at all of the places Melinda goes to avoid being "in school." How are these places similar or different? What are the benefits of each place for her? Are there any detrimental effects? (3) Mirrors: One of the main motifs of the novel is mirrors. Find as many instances of mirrors (or any reflective surface) and think about what Melinda is doing, thinking, or learning. How does she grow or change through as she continues to consider her own reflection?
UNIT ASSESSMENT: Sexual Harassment Opinion Paper.do The documents and lesson plans below served as "whole class" research to enable students to write an opinion paper on sexual harassment. They read three articles: one on how common sexual harassment is in schools to expose them to the issue, one on how music influences teens' sexual behavior, and one on the new phenomenon of "sexting." They also analyzed a music video commercial after reading the article on hip hop as a specific example of how music promotes certain (negative) interactions between men and women. During the unit, students kept a log of "sexual harassment" they saw around the school, which they shared on the last day of the unit and used to help generate the attention grabber for their paper.
Day 1:Define "sexual harassment" and recognize it as a problem.
Assign students to begin "sexual harassment log" for three days. The log should be their observations of things that could be sexual harassment that happen around the school. They should have three columns with "time of day" "location" "description of incident". No names.
Day 2:Brainstorming personal observations on the causes of sexual harassment & learning the terms "misogyny" and "objectification"
Show students the commercial "Cherry Chocolate Dr. Pepper" on YouTube to discuss/practice the presence of misogyny and objectification in music. This will prepare them for reading the Hip Hop and Sexuality article.
Day 4:Read challenging article on hip hop's negative influence on teens' sexual behavior
After the article, students should debate how responsible the music industry and individual artists are for the problem of sexual harassment.
HW: Students should find a song with lyrics that either PROVE or DISPROVE the thesis of the article. They should: (1) bring in the lyrics (2) write at least two paragraphs explaining how the lyrics prove or disprove the thesis of the article. (This can be used in their paper!)
Day 5:Read more background information on sexual harassment (technology as enabler). Then begin writing mock introductions.
Then share "sexual harassment logs." Use them to clarify/debate what qualifies as sexual harassment.
Introductions: have students look at the introductions to each of the three articles read so far and try to make a list of the necessary parts of an introduction. Tell them: (1) attention grabber (2) background on the terms & topic (3) a reason that the issue is important enough to read about (4) a thesis and use an article as an example. In pairs, have students write the introduction to an article with the title "Sexual Harassment: Is it really a problem at our school?" Instruct them to use their harassment logs to help with creating an attention grabber. Swap papers and have other pairs see if they can identify all the necessary parts of an introduction.
Post 10th grade literature resources here.
(Return to the main page.)Speak:
The following are the resources from the first literary unit taught by Meghan and Carolynn.Very Useful Website: http://mshogue.com/ce9/Speak/speak.htm
- Final Paper Topics:
(1) Trees: Trees are the main symbol in the novel. What does Melinda learn from/through her interaction with trees throughout the novel? (2) Melinda's escapes: Look at all of the places Melinda goes to avoid being "in school." How are these places similar or different? What are the benefits of each place for her? Are there any detrimental effects? (3) Mirrors: One of the main motifs of the novel is mirrors. Find as many instances of mirrors (or any reflective surface) and think about what Melinda is doing, thinking, or learning. How does she grow or change through as she continues to consider her own reflection?PRACTICE for QUOTE ID TEST: Speak Quote Identification Practice.ppt
ACTIVITIES: http://writerlady.com/novelsh/LeeBrownCurrUnit.html
Extension Unit for Speak on Sexual Harassment:
Night:
Oedipus Rex:
Black Boy: